Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Any Day That Involves Dancing Is A Pretty Good Day

Big Mama did show up today although her butt, which had appeared to heal weeks ago looks pretty nasty again. Has she got a recurrence of the dreaded Gleet or is Liberace dealing in a bit of rough trade?
Oh god. Who knows?
Not me.
But she seems happy enough.
Darla sits on eggs with the persistence of a stone. I checked under her today and felt at least a half dozen eggs. The other hens are adding to her stash. I wish I understood how this works. As I said to Jessie today, "Maybe they actually think about it. Oh look, they say. Sister Mama Darla is sitting on eggs. I'll give her my eggs to sit on too."
Of course any animal expert would tell me that that theory is full of shit. It's ALL hormones and instinct, they cannot reason, they cannot think like that in the way we think.
Well, what if they can? I'm not saying they can but is it entirely out of the realm of possibility that animals can and do at least take note of situations and adapt their behavior to take advantage of it? I seriously doubt that Eggy Tina is thinking that hey! she doesn't want to spend the necessary three weeks of her life sitting on eggs but since Darla is already doing it, she might as well let the hen hatch some chicks that look like her, too!
Oh my goodness but one can certainly go down a rabbit hole when wondering about things like this. Especially now with Google.Check out this article on "parasitic birds."
Freaking fascinating.

Okay. That's enough of chickens and theories and so forth for one day.

I walked on Farm Road today. It's just so damn pretty.

The only problem with it is that it's all uphill from north to south and all downhill from south to north. I have discussed this before. So I park on the north side and walk uphill for the first bit and then turn around and walk downhill for the last. It works out okay.

Jessie and the boys came out for a little while today and that was fun. I was making my bed when I heard August calling me and I went to greet him. He was holding a bunch of sunflowers for me.

"Oh, those are so beautiful!" I said. "Thank you! Why did you buy me flowers?"

"Because we love you," he told me.

I kissed him and cut the stems and put them in a vase. I told August that they remind me of him. That he is a sunflower with his golden hair. It's true, too.

When Jessie came in with Levon I thanked her too. And then she thanked ME for giving birth to her. We take that sort of thing very seriously around here. I have been thinking about that all day. How thirty years ago I was in prodromal labor with her and yearning so much to just get it all over with and meet my baby. Even after thirty years it's not something I can forget. I have images of my labor with her and the birth that will stay with me until the day I die. As I do with the births of all of my babies.

Those were were the holy days.

There was a little hallway dancing before lunch.

Those boys are the most enthusiastic dancers! They shake their booties and they jump up and down. Levon seems to be exceptionally gifted in dancing.

We take dancing very seriously in this family too.

We have our priorities straight.

I forgot to put out the Costco salmon sampler for Easter and Jessie and I ate some of that today. We actually made a platter with the salmon and some cheese and arugula and cucumbers and onion. We felt fancy. There were crackers and different mustards. August ate leftover pizza.

And Levon ate everything.

We read a few books. Right now August is fascinated by The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters. It's a very good book.

I swear, I really could sit and read books out loud all day long. It not only pleases the reader in me immensely, it also gives me an opportunity to use my...clears throat...dramatic skills.

I even got to read Where's Fluffy? to Levon which was a treat.

And then they all buckled up and left and I went and took a tiny nap because I was tired and worn out, mostly from my walk and because it's been hot and then I got up and made the "sponge" as they say on the British Baking Show for the chocolate Tres Leches cake and brought in the laundry.

So it's been a good day. A very good day.

And thirty years ago I was about to meet Jessie for the first time and now she's all grown up and a mama herself and how does this happen?

I do not know.

I really don't know shit, do I?

Nope.

But that's okay.

Time to go make the supper. I've been cooking pinto beans all day long with the hambone from Easter. My absolute favorite if-I-were-dying-I-would-ask-for-this last meal.

I sure am glad I'll never have to go through labor again but I sure am glad I went through it when I did.

28 comments:

Whenever you feel down, look at that photo of your baby girl and her baby boys dancing. That, my dear, proves that you are a prolific woman who makes beautiful families!!! That photo tugged at my heart like you wouldn't believe. It is life.

I'm very glad I never have to go through labor again but a small part of me wishes I had met the big guy when I was young enough to have a baby with him. Now I get a to hold a baby without the hard labor.I'm glad you had a good day.

I am so grateful that you had Jessie, too. Happy birthday to your beautiful daughter and happy birthing day to you. My own boys loved that Jolly Little Postman book -- come to think of it, they loved all books about postmen. There's a Little Golden Book about a postman, I think, or maybe it was an ice-cream man? In any case, I, too, love reading aloud and fancy myself "good" at it. I read aloud today to the girls in my school, and they complimented me which makes me feel ridiculously good. Thank you for letting me ramble a bit here -- I just love your blog.

You never ramble and even if you did, I would enjoy it. I'm sure your school girls DID love your reading. They sound so sweet. Isn't the reading of small books with pictures one of the very best parts of motherhood?

Jessie is such a beauty! Please tell my May buddy happy birthday! And that photo of her and her boys dancing in your hall reminds me of a much earlier photo, such a romantic one, of her and Virgil dancing in that same space, when they had just started seeing each other. Life truly is magical.

Dancing! We had a bit of that too in the kitchen last night while we emptied the dishwasher (there is a local tradition of dancing into May). Happy birth memory day. Ah the Ahlbergs and their extra special books. We love love love "The Baby Catalogue".

the so called experts are blinded by their human arrogance and the religious myth that only humans are made in the image of god. of course everything is sentient, everything thinks and communicates and obviously Darla is complicit since she allows the other chickens to lay in her nest. why should all the hens be at risk while they brood.

both my kids birthdays are coming up in May and I remember everything about their births. like you say, the holy days.

Right, Ellen? Why should we be the only ones? Obviously, we aren't and it is, as you say, our conceit and religion that tell us otherwise. And believing that shit has gotten us in a lot of trouble. I have another May baby! Ms. May herself.

Yes, labour really is the best example of deferred gratification that I know! It's so important to keep telling the people you love that you love them. And I like the Jolly Postman, not to mention all the other books that duo wrote. They seem to be able to connect directly with little children's minds.

Yes, I suppose one could think of labor as the very best example of deferred gratification. It is suffering that leads to the greatest joy. And relief, too, to be honest. I also agree with you about those books. They are just so perfect in their ways with words and pictures.

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